_UNDERSCORE

edited in Projects
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Getting back into prototyping I wanted to revisit this old prototype and explore an arcade style game. I looking for a feeling/gameplay similar super crate box, whao dave, and luftrausers that keep it simple and fast paced action. Also, exploring a different-ish aesthetic for feedback using the post processing stack in Unity.

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These doors are shops to buy items that are randomised everytime you buy an item. <space bar> to enter the shop.

WebGL, Windows, OSX on itch.io

Throw me some feedback or thoughts. :)

circa 2016 image

Comments

  • It feels like your Windows link is broken. ;-)

    Got some next-level screen shake going on there!
    Your player should get knocked back a bit when shooting, and you need more needless explosions!
  • @roguecode

    Sorry was half asleep when posting. -___-

    Should be working now!
  • Needs more gore :P
    Thanked by 1SUGBOERIE
  • The Walls should be alive with enemies oozing out of it...
    Thanked by 1SUGBOERIE
  • edited
    @Boysano I love that idea. Want to try that ASAP

    @Pixel_Reaper What do you mean by more gore?
  • @SUGBOERIE More permanance please. Blood splatter on walls, dead bodies.
    Thanked by 1konman
  • Is _UNDERSCORE-001-Windows.zip the latest download?
  • See OP

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    500 x 269 - 813K
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    The door looks like a really rad addition. Gives a reason to move across the map.

    Also love the little coins that enemies burst into.

    Are you thinking of adding other objectives? I kind of like the idea of a much more complicated version of Super Crate Box where the level keeps changing and giving you new mini-missions (like get a new gun, kill this miniboss, disarm the briefcase nuke, start a prison riot, protect the hostage etc) and where there's often overlapping objectives that the player needs to balance... or at least, that's where this single screen platform shooter seems to be heading.
    Thanked by 1SUGBOERIE
  • @EvanGreenwood Yeah! That's exactly what I was planning on trying next to create a reason for the player to come back and play. I was looking at the mission structure of Luftrausers that unlocks new things in the game. So, you only start with x number of guns and then you unlock more.
  • Dropped a new build on itch.io that also includes webGL version along with Windows and macOS.

    After a bit of feedback. I made some changes to the design of the game. I've left the core of buying items at the shop.

    Changes
    - Everytime you buy an item from the shop that's a point to your score
    - No secondary/special weapon
    - inifinite ammo
    - Perks (in the shop)

    Meta Ideas
    Along with also having missions as mentioned above. I'm playing around with a cashout mechanic. In which the player at any moment can pause and cash out the money they have gathered so far. Then use the money they've cashed out with to buy from the meta shop. The meta shop will sell guns/perks that will be added to the game's shop randomization.
  • edited
    I played this a bit. After a couple deaths I had all the perks and was swapping between lazers, bazookas, shotguns and machine guns.

    I really like the addition of perks. While there are only a couple now, if there were more perks and therefor more possible combinations (like in a game like Risk Of Rain) that could get very interesting.

    Near the beginning I spent quite a while farming to get enough gold to buy something. I think this is when the game is at it's least interesting. Like in Super Crate Box, standing in one place and shooting isn't as tricky as getting to the next objective.

    I feel like I'd like a reason to go to the door even when I can't afford the next thing. Like using a door gives you something, or not using a door spawns something you have to fight, or not using a door increases enemy pressure, or using a door when you can't afford anything gives you a discount on the next door.

    Or maybe, perhaps in addition, standing in the same place for too long incurs some kind of danger (although that could also suck).

    The problem is, in Super Crrate Box if you didn't go to the next crate you are not making any progress. In _Underscore if you stay in one place you can farm plenty of gold.

    I think the banking and the meta-progression purchases sound interesting. I really enjoy games like Rogue Legacy where your character gradually gets more powerful through upgrades between runs. I'm also a fan of Super Crate Box itself with unlocking more potential weapons.

    Buying options to spawn weapons can be cool... but it can be done badly... like I don't want to spend money adding an item to the pool that makes the pool less optimal for my next run (like if I don't want to use a bazooka I'm not keen to add it to the pool). Either the items should be bought in order (like unlocks in Super Crate Box) or the player should have some other control over the pool.

    Also adding weapons may mean less frequent perk purchasing options. Maybe there could be different kinds of doors so that the pools of purchasing options don't mix (and meta-purchases don't make perks less common).

    At the end of my run, before I quit, I wasn't having trouble fighting off the enemies. I think it might be a decent idea to include some concept of enemy pressure, like the escalating difficulty in Risk of Rain. This might work well with the banking mechanic you suggested, that the longer you play the tougher it gets but also the higher the rewards. Also "enemy pressure" is another variable that could be manipulated with shop purchases.

    If the game keeps doing the switching weapons thing in the late game, maybe some kind of quest system, like "kill X enemies with the shotgun" could incentivize changing weapons.
    Thanked by 1SUGBOERIE
  • Thanks @EvanGreenwood for playing and giving feedback!

    This is a game that needs quite a bit of content. Which I'm slowly adding. I wanted to get to a point in which there was a decent variety of things to buy in the shop.

    With regards to having some reason to move around the map instead of farming. I thought of having the banking/cashout at the shops. So, maybe instead of cashing out you bank your money. Save it for the next run. Which means you don't have to wait so long before you get the next gun.

    This added with the your suggestion of having enemies escalate with difficulty and them giving more money could work in favour of having the player keep moving around to save money instead of losing it all. I think.
    If the game keeps doing the switching weapons thing in the late game, maybe some kind of quest system, like "kill X enemies with the shotgun" could incentivize changing weapons.
    This is on the todo list. Needs to happen. Also, with buying more guns/perks in the meta shop. I'm thinking to not have 10s of guns/perks being added to the randomisation. The player could pick a subset of guns/perks for each run. Which can be strategized based on the missions.
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